Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics (SPIN-UP)

Learn How Your Department Can Thrive

Quick Links

SPIN-UP Links

Gray Arrow SPIN-UP Report
Gray Arrow Results Summary
Gray Arrow Tables and Statistics

AAPT Pages

Gray Arrow SPIN-UP Workshops
Gray Arrow SPIN-UP and Two-Year Colleges
Gray Arrow Guidelines for Undergraduate Physics Programs
Gray Arrow SPIN-UP Workshop Report format_pdf

APS Pages

Gray Arrow Resources for Physics Faculty
Gray Arrow Doubling Physics Majors

Tell Us Your Story

If you have a great undergraduate physics program, we'd like to know about it! Send us an email describing what makes your program thrive.
Gray arrow  Email APS Education

National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics

Some physics departments graduate large numbers of majors year after year, while others graduate much lower numbers and are, in some cases, threatened with closure. What sets the thriving departments apart?

This question led to the formation of the National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics (NTFUP), which wrote the influential SPIN-UP report.
 

Methodology

To determine what thriving undergraduate physics departments have in common, NTFUP sent site visit teams to 21 physics departments whose undergraduate programs were, by various measures, thriving. In addition, with the aid of the American Institute of Physics Statistical Research Center, the task force developed a survey and sent it to all 759 departments in the United States that grant bachelor’s degrees in physics.

SPIN-UP Report

The report can be downloaded in full or in parts using the links below. You can also request a free bound and printed copy by emailing AAPT Membership.
Gray Arrow  SPIN-UP Results Summary
Gray Arrow  Full SPIN-UP Report
Gray Arrow  Tables and Statistics

Response to SPIN-UP

APS and AAPT offer a wide variety of resources to help physics departments implement reforms recommended by the SPIN-UP Report. In addition, in 2007 the two societies passed a joint statement calling for doubling the number of undergraduate physics majors.
Gray Arrow  APS/AAPT Doubling Initiative
Gray Arrow  APS Resources for Undergraduate Physics Faculty
Gray Arrow  SPIN-UP Regional Workshops
Gray Arrow  SPIN-UP at Two-Year Colleges
Gray Arrow  Guidelines for Undergraduate Physics Programs
Gray Arrow  Spin-UP Workshop Report format_pdf

Host a SPIN-UP Consulting Visit

SPIN-UP consulting teams are available on an ad hoc basis to help your department develop plans for enhancing your undergraduate program. Departments pay for transportation and local expenses for the consulting team. If you are interested in hosting a SPIN-UP consulting team, email APS Education.

SPIN-UP Support

  • American Association of Physics Teachers
  • American Institute of Physics
  • American Physical Society
  • ExxonMobil Foundation